Branching Out
by Raged Caged Penguins
Summary: Sequel to The Nature Goddess' Warrior. Sequoia copes with the loss of his wings and certain voices in his head, along with Viridi driving him crazy.
1. Making Amends With New Friends

Leaves drifted soundlessly as light wafted in through tinted windows. It was blissfully peaceful, no sound could be heard, no disturbance to be found. The silence was so pure, that the lightly placed footsteps seemed deafening in contrast. Sequoia walked through the temple, looking for Viridi. He wanted to show her the little Bumbety Bomb that saved his life.

"Viridi! You there?"

A woman's voice responded, the sarcasm usually entwined in it was vacant when speaking with Sequoia.

"Yeah I'm here, what's up?"

A small grin always seemed to sneak onto Sequoia's face whenever he heard or saw Viridi.

"I'd like you to meet someone. I'll come to the main room."

Sequoia did as he had told her, long strides carrying him to the throne room in barely any time. He turned to the blonde haired goddess sitting on the throne.

"Meet my consciousness."

He gestured to the small Bumbety bomb that had been following him.

"I'm confused, what am I looking at?"

Sequoia was caught off guard. How could she not see the Bumbety bomb right beside him?

"It's right here beside me. The Bumbety bomb."

Viridi stood up and circled Sequoia, her eyes scanning the air around him.

"There isn't anything here, you must be seeing things."

Her gaze narrowed at Sequoia, and he knew what that look meant. She was scanning his thoughts.

"You are definitely seeing it, have you heard it speak?"

Sequoia thought about the question for a second before he answered.

"Yes."

Viridi's gaze returned to normal as she thought about the issue.

"I think your little journey inside your own mind made you schizophrenic."

Sequoia was strong in physical prowess, not mental prowess, so he just stood dumbfounded.

"What?"

Viridi sighed and answered him.

"It means you have voiced in your head and you sometimes see them in person. The Bumbety bomb is you, and he is like a different personality."

The bomb spoke up next.

"She's right, you know."

"Shut up, you aren't real."

Viridi laughed at Sequoia snapping at a voice inside his head.

"Might get worse, you could develop multiple personalities in addition to...er, it. Give the bomb a name. See you later."

Sequoia and the bomb strolled around the temple trying to think of a name for the bomb.

"How about George?"

"No."

"Steve?"

"Seriously? No."

"Susan?"

"I'm a boy!"

"Susan it is."

The bomb groaned in protest.

"No!"

Sequoia giggled and kept walking.

"Shut it Sue, let's go find something to do."

Sue grumbled and kept following Sequoia.

"What are we doing?"

Sequoia shrugged and kept walking.

* * *

Viridi peered back into Sequoia's mind. He had voices inside his head, meaning that there were likely more than one. There were two more that she could see, likely more hidden in the recesses of his mind. One of the two wasn't fully developed, and the other was ready to invade Sequoia's thoughts. She allowed it to, Sequoia needed some friends. Viridi analyzed the new personality, seeing it as tactical. That would be helpful, wouldn't it?

* * *

A new voice took Sequoia by surprise.

"Greetings."

Sequoia's body reacted on instinct, sweeping his leg around him and jabbing at the voice's owner. His fists passed through air as the owner of the voice seemed to vanish.

"What the fu-"

Pain seared through his body as the swear began to exit his mouth. He fell to his knees as he regained his composure.

"Holy shi-"

Pain shot through him again as he bit his lip. No matter how good his pain tolerance was, the pain shot right through it as if it wasn't there. The voice that had caused him to swear in the first place spoke to him again.

"Haven't got it yet? This is a sacred place, you probably shouldn't swear."

Sequoia opened his mouth to profanely chew him out, but he bit his lip to avoid the swears to exit his mouth.

"Who the- I mean who are you?"

The voice spoke with a refined tone in reply.

"Tages, your personal tactical personality. Lady Viridi put me at the front of your mind."

Sequoia subconsciously corrected him.

"Mistress."

"Hmm?"

Sequoia realized his correction and hurriedly explained.

"She prefers to be called 'Mistress'."

The voice let out a grunt of approval as Sequoia resumed walking. He went outside the temple to spar with Cragalanche.

The rocky behemoth swung an arm at Sequoia, who blocked it with a cannon similar in appearance to the wordless rock. With Sequoia's armored arm occupied, the igneous giant swung its other arm into the chest of the wingless warrior.

"Damnit!"

Sequoia enjoyed being able to curse without being seared with pain.

"Tages, prove your worth. Now!"

Sequoia could almost hear the tactician analyze the behemoth.

"Run in a large circle around him."

Sequoia did as told, though he didn't know why. Cragalanche kept his front towards the scarred warrior as Sequoia circled around him.

"He's keeping his front towards you, he's hiding it. Attack his back with the Black Club. Viridi had one forged for you."

_How does he know that but not me? You know what? Never mind._

Sequoia envisioned a large black rectangle attached to a pole appearing in his hands, and it soon did. Sequoia lifted the enormous club above his head and swung it down with a bellowing war cry. A large black wrecking ball shot from the club at the behemoth, stunning it for but a moment. Sequoia's calves tensed as he built up energy and leapt high and far over Cragalanche, using momentum and strength to bring the flipped club hard against the boulder's back. Cragalanche blinked in defeat for lack of a better expression. Sequoia fired another wrecking ball into the sky in triumph right before his bruises began to form. The soreness hit him like a goddess-powered locomotive as he yelped in pain.

"Fuck!"

* * *

Viridi began to worry about Sequoia, he was starting to develop wounds and scars since the loss of his wings. She guessed it was due to Thanatos' curse. When she was examining a gash in his arm, she noticed that his skin was growing calloused as his body adapted to the constant combat. It made it easier to tend to his wounds though, he could barely feel a thing through his thick, hard skin. His arms and chest no longer shone untouched, and had scars of varying shapes and sizes covering nearly every inch of his body, but Viridi didn't mind. She just thought it was a little attractive in all honesty. She called him into the temple room to give him a mission. He was to transport gifts to the towns his body had ransacked when Thanatos was controlling him. The journey would take him several months without his wings, but he was ecstatic to meet up with his human friend again. He promptly set off after quickly kissing Viridi on the cheek, coaxing a blush from her. She had him wear his autumn leaf-tunic instead of his armor to show he meant no harm, he would bring no weapons, just the gifts, which were vastly valuable to hope ease tension in the towns. From diamonds to rubies, and even a pearl was in the mix. She transported him as close to the first town as possible, but he'd have to walk from there to the other towns. Many villagers were frightened at his scars, thinking he was hostile, but such feelings dissolved when he began distributing the gifts. It took him all the self control he had not to kick the local woodsman in the teeth however, and he got lots of hugs from the villagers and their children. One small girl even made him lift her up high, and a goat even bit off part of his tunic, to which he cursed under his breath at. When he got to John's house, two small children greeted him intrigued, one girl and one boy. The boy climbed his leg and chest, finally stopping to sit on his head. Sequoia just shrugged and lowered the boy to his shoulder, then jogging around the yard while the child giggled. Sequoia eventually set him down and went to see his friend. John pulled him into a bear hug so tight that he could feel it through his hardened skin.

"It's been too long, lad. What took ya?"

Sequoia glanced towards the children then back at John, trying to think of how to word his answer. Before he could, Tages took over and did it for him.

"I was...doing business."

Tages had Sequoia's body tap a prominent scar on his arm. John nodded in understanding and introduced Sequoia to his wife as Tages relinquished control of Sequoia.

"Mary, this is him, the angel."

Mary walked over to Sequoia and studied him, then smiled and hugged him.

"Thank you for keeping John safe."

Sequoia smiled back at her and just gave her a thumbs up and went to deliver the rest of the gifts. Towards the end of the journey he got homesick, making the final town seem that much slower. He finished up and strolled out of the town. He called to Viridi to pick him up. As the column of light surrounded him he smiled at the thought of coming home. He appeared in the throne room, wasting no time before running to Viridi and hugging her. She accepted the embrace, but during the hug Sequoia noticed something has changed about Viridi. He retracted for the hug to ask Viridi about it.

"You smell different."

Viridi quickly countered.

"Since when did you pay attention to my scent?"

Sequoia blurted out his response before actually thinking about it.

"Since you started smelling nice, so always."

Viridi flushed and took great interest in the arm of the throne.

"It's from a new flower I planted, that's why."

Sequoia chose speech before thought again.

"It smells nice, but you would probably smell nice no matter what."

Viridi's blush deepened as Sequoia realized what he said, and quickly apologized.

"Oh goddess, sorry about that..."

Viridi looked up from the arm of her throne and into Sequoia's gray and green eyes.

"It's okay you needn't apologize for being sweet."

She got up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before walking off.

_How the fuck does she do that? The only needs to barely kiss me before I go nuts. I wonder if that's a good thing? I don't even know anymore. Wait, where did she go? What am I doing?_

Sequoia ran after Viridi, partly in curiosity and partly in want of a better kiss. He searched to no avail, Viridi moves fast when she wants to. Sequoia contacted Pit, thinking that he might be better to go to for relationship advice. The angel flew into the temple soon after being summoned.

"Pit, you have a girlfriend right?"

Pit narrowed his eyes and hesitantly answered.

"Yeah..."

"Who?"

Pit bit his lip and lied to his former soldier.

"Just an angel back in Skyworld."

Sequoia smiled inwardly and began to coax the truth out of him by revealing that he knew the answer.

"Dude don't hide it, everyone knows about the blonde bounty hunter from your little inter-dimensional fight club."

Pit was surprised as Sequoia's knowledge and gaped at him.

"Relax, Viridi told me after Palutena gossiped with her."

Pit let out a sigh of relief.

"So what do you need?"

Sequoia groaned and swallowed his pride.

"I need some advice about girls."

"Who is it?"

Sequoia bit his lip and slowly answered.

"Viridi..."

Pit coughed in shock.

"Who now?"

"Viridi..."

"One, that's bold. Two, I honestly have no idea how I got a girlfriend, it just kind of happened."

Sequoia groaned again, this time in frustration. Pit giggled uncontrollably.

"What?"

Pit stifled his giggles as he replied.

"Guess you better..._Wing it._"

Sequoia's face morphed into a scowl at the witticism directed towards his lack of wings, but two can play at that game.

"Nice one, ostrich."

Pit's laughs halted immediately as he frowned and left the temple promptly.

**Can anyone guess who Pit's girlfriend is? Inter dimensional fight club... Heheh.**


	2. Hangovers, Syrup, and Fights, Oh My!

**Chapter Two of my second fic! AND I HAVE A FOLLOWER YAAAAY!Remember that this is a sequel, so it is advised to read The Nature Goddess's Warrior first. That means I should be better at writing! This chapter is a long one, with fight scenes and BLOOOOOOD! Sequoia's blood. **

**Sequoia: WTF?**

**Shut it, you know the drill, you get your ass kicked then you kick the opponents ass. Or you die. Viridi! Make a beautiful bouquet of flowers for the funeral just in case!**

**Sequoia and Viridi: ...**

**LET THE GAMES BEGIN!**

(Sequoia's POV)

I walked around the temple and into my bedroom, I was not very happy at all. My clothes were torn to bits from a very angry beaver that decided he didn't like me protecting the trees. I can't kill innocent creatures, so I let the furious bastard maul me for a bit until Viridi stopped laughing and got me out of there. The only bit of my tunic that still existed was the bottom half barely staying on my waist due to a makeshift belt made from my scarf. I walked into my bathroom and set a change of clothes in front of the mirror. I turned the left faucet in the tub as far as it could go, I really needed a hot shower. The warm water flowed down my back, but it stung like hell when it touched the stubs that used to be my wings. Usually an angel's weak point, but I was never a real angel. Materialized from a lost soul by Hades, I was given to Thanatos to be trained. I was made to look like an angel so I could infiltrate Palutena's army and cause better havoc to her reputation by slaughtering towns. To be honest, I loved killing. I still do in a way. That's why I joined Palutena's Light team as a fighter, so I wouldn't be controlled by Thanatos or accidentally murder something in a war against the Underworld. This made me different from other angels. I swore violently and frequently, as I was taught to. I solved thing with a fist to the jaw instead of asking politely. My interrogation method were inhumane but effective, I mean after all, losing your tonsils, appendix, and kidney by it being crudely removed with a large hand is good incentive. Then I met Viridi. I still swear more than anything but I'm not as violent. At least not away from the battlefield. I tuned off the water and donned my armor, walking out of the steam-filled bathroom to find an L-shaped weapon lying on my bed. It was shard on the outside of the L and could be gripped and thrown, only to have it come back. A boomerang, nice. Then Mister Smart Ass decided to put in his two cents.

"Nice, a boomerang."

Tages was so very annoying. I would have hated him if he wasn't useful. I walked out into the small training area outside the temple to find my old commander eating chicken straight off the ground.

"What the actual fuck Pit?"

Pit turned to me with his mouth full and crumbs on his lips. He swallowed and wiped off his mouth so he could answer.

"Floor food, it's good for you."

Tages took over my body in full-on pissed-off mode. He sounded like a profane nerd, which I can respect.

"No it fucking isn't! Do you even know how many damned germs are on the floor? Your health is at risk from that! You could get sick or die if you weren't Palutena's pet! She'll fix you whenever you get sick or fall in battle, won't she?"

Even me, oblivious, dick-headed me knew that was a touchy topic with Pit. I just kicked back an imaginary chair as I watched Pit stand up, kick the chicken aside, draw his bow, and rush at Tages. I spoke in Tages' mind, or my mind, or some-fucking-one's mind, I'm a little iffy on the science.

"Try not to get pummeled too bad."

Tages just grunted at me and threw his boomerang at Pit. A boomerang was a defensive, offensive, and tactical weapon, so Tages was probably better at using it then I am. I winced as the boomerang made a nice gash in Pit's cheek, then continuing its death circle and hashing the other cheek too. The little swirly death frisbee stopped when Tages caught it, and I watched in horror as Tages made the mistake of letting his guard down to taunt Pit. Pit arrived in front of Tages in a second, lacerating my body in the next. I saw Tages leap back and chuck the boomerang at Pit, but he's a quick learner. I watched as Pit sidestepped and fired a bolt at Tages, throwing my body back into the pavement. I cursed at Tages and hoped for the best.

(Third Person, I can do more with the fight scenes.)

Tages hit the pavement with a resounding thump as Pit sprinted towards him. Pit's bow disappeared and was replaced by a white-and-gold staff with a green orb at the front. Pit jabbed said orb into the midsection of Tages, causing the tactician to begin to lose control, giving Pit the upper hand. Tages kept throwing the boomerang at the angel, but each attacked was dodged and countered with a staff to the face, knees, or stomach. It went on like this for a while until Tages couldn't take any more. He collapsed to the ground and let Sequoia's mind fill the bruised body, causing the beating to affect him. Sequoia, as if to make amends, rose to one knee and extended his hand to Pit. Pit grabbed it and helped him up as he rose to his feet and grinned.

"Wanna go for a real fight?"

Pit grinned at the proposal and changed into a fighting stance. Sequoia latched the boomerang to where his wings used to be as Viridi claws occupied his hands. Bright red gauntlets appeared on Pit's hands as three flaming claws appeared from each red gauntlet. Both warriors relentlessly slashed at the other, blades clashing together and sending sparks as their hands moved in a blur. No warrior gained the upper hand for a long time until Sequoia swept his leg under Pit, making him fall. He stabbed his right gauntlet into the ground next to Pit's head, cracking the ground to show the angel that he had lost. Sequoia helped Pit up and they shook hands and departed, each sporting nasty gashes.

(Sequoia's POV)

I walked into the hospital as I sat down on my personal cot and waited for the new way of treatment since I wasn't revivable anymore. I screamed loudly as large roots came out of the ground and plunged into my wounds. I fought the urge to writhe in agony as the roots moved around my insides and killed any sickness or germs. The roots retracted but a throbbing where the gash on my arm was alerted me to something wrong. There was a large black seed in my arm, visible under a thin layer of skin. I materialized my Phosphora bow in my hands and gently cut off the thin layer of skin. I grabbed the seed but it stabbed thorns into me in response. Is it appropriate to call a seed a bastard? If it isn't, then what I did next was highly inappropriate. I gave up on taking it out and accepted it, figuring it was something to help later. I fell asleep on the cot like I was supposed to, Viridi told me that it was best to sleep while I healed. When I woke up, I was greeted by a tree. Or flexible branches to be specific. The seed had branches coming out of it and were wrapped around my whole body. It was like a suit of armor. There were even branches around my head, leaving a slit over my eyes like a visor. Was this what the seed did? It was cool. I subconsciously reached up to scratch my head in curiosity but I actually touched my head. I felt the branches retract so they didn't form a helmet anymore, and instead left only the torso and below the waist. I imagined the armor fully retracting, and it followed suit. That's when I got a weird taste in my mouth, one I knew well from a bet with Tages. Sap from a sequoia tree. How ironic. I spit the sap out and wiped the remnants off my mouth. I hated irony. Then my little sequoia roots enveloped my left arm and formed a mace over my hand. I let impulse take over and I used it to break the cot in two, before giggling like a schoolgirl and skipping out of the room. Today was an off day, and I wasn't quite right in the head.

* * *

I woke up in an Aether Ring in the middle of the night, with a half drunken Drink of The Gods in a cup holder, and fifteen empty bottles scattered around the Aether Ring.

"What. The actual. Fuck."

I hopped out of the Aether Ring and downed the last of the fluid in the bottle. I couldn't get any more hungover then I actually was. Except I could, thanks to the curse. I fucking hate Thanatos. I couldn't remember what happened or why I had pine cones stuck into my back. I didn't even try to remove them. Giving a fuck was not even close to being a priority when I was hungover. I was new to drinking, so I mistakenly thought that drinking more would help. Tages decided to relay what happened when I stopped remembering things.

* * *

_I walked around, staggering a bit and falling over at one point while I walked into the temple. I turned to Cragalanche and began hugging him. The poor rock had no clue what was happening so he took me to Viridi. Bad idea, she was the last person I'd like to be around while drunken, I'd most certainly embarrass myself or her. Maybe both. It was both. I kept hiccuping as Cragalanche dumped me in front of Viridi. What happened next will be the death of any fool stupid enough to repeat it. I stood up and lopsidedly smiled at Viridi._

_"Well hello, sexy."_

_I watched as she grew red in anger and embarrassment._

_"What did you just say to me?"_

_My drunken, idiotic self acted on impulse and walked until I was right in front of her. I leaned towards her ear and whispered in a low tone. _

_"I said, hello sexy."_

_I would have died, right then and there if Viridi wasn't paralyzed in shock. I kissed her for about twenty seconds while Tages watched in astonishment. I pulled back and walked away to my room._

* * *

Then I came to. I nearly saved Viridi the trouble and stabbed myself when Tages told me the last bit. Instead I went to the Overworld to stay at John's for a few days to play it safe. He let me pose as a tree in his backyard using my new armor. I stayed there for a week until John made me go back, where Viridi returned the favor of embarrassment.

"You are very forward when you're drunk. I should get you drunk more often."

Her words shocked me ten times more than when my Phosphora Bow misfires and electrocuted me.

"Mistress Viridi! W-why would you say that?"

She walked over towards me until she stood right in front of me. She lifted my chin until my face was aligned with hers then she cupped her free hand on my cheek and tilted her head as she leaned towards me. Then she kissed me. Nothing special about the kiss, aside from the fact that I was sober when it happened. My eyes closed so I could enjoy the moment, and my left hand went to her hair and my right went to her lower back because I didn't feel comfortable leaving my hands limp at my sides. Viridi took the hand that had lifted my chin and placed it on the back of my head so she could pull me further into the kiss. She massaged her lips against mine and I tried to actually gain my bearings. Nope. Not happening. Too surprised, too inexperienced, take your pick. Susan made a mental recording of the moment and Tages just kind of day there gaping in my mind. Viridi eventually released me and walked away smiling, while I literally stood there as my eyes slowly opened and my mind slowly formed. Tages ruined my moment.

"What the fuck?"

"Dude I don't fucking know."

Sap filled my mouth again and I swallowed it this time.

"Make her something," Susan echoed in my mind. Tages covered my back with banter at the expense of Susan.

"That's the first fucking useful thing you have ever said."

Susan knew better than to respond, and Tages gave me an idea of what to make her. I was surprised at the ingeniousness of the idea. First I needed some supplies though, so I went and picked up some flaming Wolf Claws and my boomerang, and an Aquarius Blade. I ran outside and grabbed several buckets and a metal pan. I used my armour to stretch out a length of wood past my arm, then cut a gash in it with my boomerang, then grabbed the Aquarius Blade. I had the blade morph the water composing it into a small stream of water that went into my arm, mixed with the sap, then came out and went into the buckets. After most of them were full, I withdrew all water but left the sap so I could get to work. I poured one bucket into a metal pan and lifted it with one arm. With my free hand, I grabbed one of my flaming claws and held the burning blades to the underside of the pan. After a while the large amount of sap turned into a tiny amount of syrup. I repeated the process until I got a bucket full of the sweet sequoia syrup. I poured it into several bottles and tied a note to the bottles, saying that I made it from the armor so Viridi wouldn't kill me for harming a real tree. While I was writing the note, sap filled my mouth again. I swallowed it and cursed to myself. Every 30 seconds sap kept filling my mouth. I didn't understand it at all. I had a theory, but I didn't like it very much. My thoughts were interrupted when I saw another seed popping out of my finger. I brushed it off and went to bed. I'm sooooo tired that it wasn't even funny. I just crashed into my bed and dozed off to dream of tomorrow's events.

**Aaaand finished. I'm getting better with my chapter lengths. Also I have several chapters saved, but I still have minor tweaks for them. Anybody got any theories about what happened to Sequoia? No? Yes? Leave a review!**

**_RagedCagedPenguin waddles into the sunset..._**


	3. Living Up To The Name

**I'm gonna keep writing in first person, and I need your opinion on something. Should I give Sequoia an archenemy? Or just keep going like I am? It's hard to write a story without an antagonist. And even if I did make one he/she wouldn't show up for several chapters since I got stuff to do first. Anyways, grab your down feathers and prepare for the chapter!**

**(Sequoia's POV)**

All I could see was pink. I figured that a flower had landed on my face so I tried brushing it off, and my vision cleared for a second and then the pink was back. I felt around my face until I felt a tiny stem right between my eyebrows. I plucked it from my face and my vision cleared up. It was a huge flower, and it was a horrendous shade of pink. If I didn't enjoy nature so much I would have crushed it. But I liked nature so I set it in a glass of water. My arm had fallen asleep during my slumber so I shook it awake. I got up, donned my leafy toga, and went to the breakfast table, which was made when I was turned mortal since apparently my body requires food. I could only eat meat since everything else was made from some kind of plant, and nobody could harm plants without incurring the wrath of Viridi. I grabbed some sausage and bacon, then sat down. I bit a piece of the bacon off and swallowed, only for it to immediately rise back up my throat. I kept trying to swallow but it kept on coming back up.

"What the..."

I spit it out, dumped my food in the trash bin, and went outside. I sat down in the shade while my stomach protested the lack of food. I tried to get my mind off of it and went for a walk in the garden. Sunlight shined down from the sky, landing on a small leaf on my shoulder. Immediately I felt some of my hunger go away. Intrigued, I sat down for about half an hour until I wasn't hungry anymore. Then it started raining. I just shrugged and let it rain, and the small droplets of water that hit me were immediately absorbed by my skin. I did not understand this at all, but Tages had my back.

"You're a plant. That's hilarious considering your name."

"Seriously? Is this because of that seed?"

"Probably."

I groaned and walked inside, but not without noticing a foreign feeling in my arm. I touched it and nearly screamed at what I felt. There was bark. GROWING ON ME!

"Holy-"

"Don't curse, remember last time?"

"Oh yeah."

I didn't want to deal with this now, so I just went back to bed, and what I woke up to was some of the scariest shit I had ever seen, and I was literally born and raised in the underworld. All of my skin save for my face was bark, pure bark. My fingers were small, sharp branches and my toes were the same. I could move around, but it was scary to me, probably since I had gone from being an angel to being a tree in less then a year. At least I lived longer now. But the pink flowers sprouting on my arms were less than enjoyable. I went back out into the rain, which was pouring much harder now, but then all of a sudden it stopped. The clouds that had once held the rain were now glowing at irregular intervals and sparking. I heard booming thunder shortly before a zigzagging blue streak came out of the clouds and hit me. My new bark skin lit ablaze very fast. I panicked and ran around batshit crazy since whenever I tried the pat the flames out they would just burn more.

"TAGES!"

"Try depriving the reaction of oxygen, no wait you produce oxygen now... Water! Get water!"

I ran and jumped into the nearby lake, which Viridi made for the plants that needed to be near a body of water. As soon as I hit the water, my legs began to grow very tall until I touched the bottom of the lake. Then roots spread out from the part of my legs that was above the water until there was a cluster of semi-entangled roots holding me above the water. The leaves that had sprouted on me turned a bit darker shade of green as the roots supporting me burrowed into the bottom of the lake to support me. Viridi had apparently heard me screaming and had rushed outside.

"Sequoia, why are you in the lake, and why are you a mangrove tree?"

I didn't really have an answer to her second question, so I just told her what happened.

"Lightning struck me, then I caught fire, panicked and jumped in the lake to dowse the flames. And now I'm a tree!"

"That's both hilarious and amazing."

I just frowned as the roots retracted at blazing speed, causing my to fall into the lake, making Viridi laugh like a madman. I swam out and as soon as I hit land my leaves returned to their sequoia tint of green.

"Hilarious," I said in the most sarcastic tone I could possibly muster.

I walked inside and went back to bed, which was beginning to become the solution to all my problems. I woke up after a good 14-minute sleep and tried experimenting with my new tree stuff. By sundown I was temporarily blind in my right eye. I don't even know how. I got sleepy, and my legs merged together and formed a large tree trunk, then stretched high into the air. Branches and leaves stretched out into the air near the top of the trunk as my body turned into a sequoia semperviren while I slept. It was surprising comfy being a tree. I dozed off to a dreamless slumber. When I woke, Tages wanted to do some experiments.

(Tages' POV)

The reaction Sequoia had to the lake was truly amazing. I suspected that the seed in his forearm recognized the different environment and changed accordingly. Perhaps if I have him ascend to a high altitude another form will appear. Sequoia could stretch his roots very far, so I had him grow his legs and arms fifteen meters tall.

"Alright, Viridi has graciously supplied us with a mountain for our little experiment, so climb until I say stop."

Viridi had made a platform stick out from the side of the mountain every thousand feet, so I had Sequoia climb until he reached the 11th platform. As soon as he set foot on the platform h me shrunk until he was a total of fifteen meters tall, then his legs merged to form a trunk of 1.5 meters. Then a cone of branches that had short pine needles jutting out occupied the branches. The bark on him turned grey-brown as his toes became roots and dug into the ground.

"_Pinus aristata"_

As usual, Sequoia's small intellect couldn't process what I said.

"What?"

"It's the tree you are now, also known as a Bristlecone Pine, a tree that grows at a maximum of 11,000 feet."

"Oh, so can we leave now?"

"Of course not, I still have tests to do. How's your breathing? Is it hard to breathe?"

"No."

Weird, he shouldn't be able to breathe well, we are a little over two miles up. Wait, I forgot, he now creates his own oxygen supply. I wonder if he could survive in space? Probably not, the air would be sucked away immediately.

"Thank you, now climb down, we'll test more tomorrow."

**Goldengear9: Thanks for leaving a review, and for being the first to ever review, follow, or favorite any of my stories! And nice guess! **

**I'm feeling very well with this chapter, and expect more tree forms later! I might change his name for each tree. Prolly not.**

**_RagedCagedPenguin waddles into the sunset..._**


	4. The Shit Hits The Fan

***Dusts this off and clears throat***

**Sooo, I'm back. Sorry for the wait, but I am listening to a mixture of Fozzy's 'Do You Want To Start A War', AC-DC's 'Shoot To Thrill', and various Fall Out Boy songs, so shit is about to hit the fan.**

**Sequoia's POV **

Today I was going to the desert for more testing of my abilities and to see if I adapted at all to the climate. Before we went however, something incredible happened. I was heading through the garden when my nose started to tickle. Oh no, nonono.

"ACHOO!"

A mixture of seeds and sap went flying out of my nose as I sneezed the biggest sneeze of my entire life.

"Yeesh, that was some sneeze, right Tages?"

I didn't get an answer from the voice in my head for a moment, before I heard him answer from behind me, which was weird since it was usually like a voice in my head. I turned around slowly to find a 6'2" tall tree-man standing there, with his arms held behind him and an air of intelligence about him.

"Quite."

I would have thrown up if I had I stomach. This was weird, even for me.

"Don't even try to explain this to me."

Tages rolled his eyes and explained it anyway.

"You transferred part of your conscious into the seed, then the seed began to obtain a high exponential rate of growth until it had grown into me."

Tages hurts my head a lot, but I have learned to just take his word on it.

"Do you think the other seeds have consciousness too?"

"No."

I shuddered at the thought of any more voices in my head coming to life, and I had had enough of this one. I pointed a finger at his head and stretched it at a high rate of speed so that it impaled through his head. Then I heard his voice back in my head.

"How did you know that killing my body would transfer my voice back into your head?"

"I didn't, I just wanted you to shut up."

"Oh. Well let's head further into the desert."

After a while, I began to undergo yet another adaptation, and my skin turned into stripes of dark green and light green, and my whole body grew small prickles. My hair was replaced by a large flower. I was a cactus. The other trees at least looked cool, but this form was a bit embarrassing. I told Tages and Susan that we were just going to sneak into my bedroom, but my actions were noticed by Viridi just as I shut my door.

"Show me."

"NO"

If Viridi thought I was letting her see me in this state she was crazy, beautiful, but crazy.

"Come out from your room and let me see, and I'll give you a surprise."

I couldn't deny a lady's curiosity could I? I stepped outside as she reviewed my appearance. Shortly thereafter Viridi laughed louder then I thought possible, but I ignored that and focused on how adorable her laugh was. She walked away giggling like a madman who forgot to give a tree person a surprise. I tried to shake off the cactus form, but it didn't work. I was so immersed in getting rid of the cactus form that I didn't have time to react as I felt a hand go over my mouth and a knife through my back.

**Sorry for the short length of the chapter, but I had to get this one up before I went insane. ALSO WHAT IS HAPPENING DOES ANYBODY KNOW I DOUBT IT. Fun fact: I modeled Tages's personality and characteristics after myself. **

_**Raged Caged Penguin waddles into the sunset...**_


	5. The Unknown Voices

**To make up for the immensely short chapter before, this chapter will be at least 1,000 words. More AC DC and Fozzy, as well as Fall Out Boy. Oh and Beastie Boys and Queen's 'Another One Bites The Dust'. So basically this chapter has a little humor, no romance, hella violence, and a few new people, one mentioned in the very first chapter and the other completely new.**

**?'s POV**

"Wake up."

I kicked the hunched body of the tree man in the face, causing him to wake up and cough up a bit of sap. He raised his head and tried to lunge at me, only to find that his hands were chained to a wall behind him. I laughed at him then got on my knee in front of him. We were in a pitch black room but that didn't affect my vision, it only shielded my appearance from him. I put on a metal glove on my right hand that had a spiked palm on it, and I smacked him so hard that his head bounced off of the floor.

"What are you?"

Instead of answering my question, he ignored me and chuckled. I smirked unseen and put another spiked palm on my left hand and impaled it into he's chest, then used my other hand to grab his left leg and ripped it off, spraying sap everywhere. The mother fucker did let even_ flinch. _I threw a fist into is gut, then smacked him again.

"I'm gonna ask again, what are you and are there more of you?"

He smiled at me then spat a mixture of sap and blood at me. I threw off my gloves and swung a fist at him, again having no effect.

"How are you taking this?"

He didn't say much in reply.

"Bitch I was raised in _Hell."_

"Talk damnit!"

I wasn't getting anything out of him, not this way. I left him in the dark after chopping a gash in his stomach so he would feel the pain while I was away. He'd pay for what he did, soon as I figured out what he turned into since I last saw him.

_1 hour earlier_

**Stalker's POV**

I made a strap of vines then attached a quiver to it. I attached the quiver to my back then made a bow with a vine bowstring. I made wooden arrows with flowers attached to the bottom so that it would fly straight. I attached the bow to my back and followed the large man lugging the tree. Making noise wasn't a problem for me, I was born without a larynx. I stalked the sinister man until he walked into a dark room and chained the tree's arms behind him. I watched as he tortured the tree-man until he finally left. I waited until I was sure he was gone then I leaped in front of the tree-man. He appeared to sense my presence, but mistook me for the evil man. I began to cut away the chains binding him with a knife, but the dull blade I found wasn't doing it. A voice from behind me made me jump a bit.

"So there are more of you. I wonder if you can fight as well as you can sneak."

The room lit up, revealing just how large it was. I nocked an arrow and let it fly at my attacker. He sidestepped and dodged it, then began to advance. I sprinted towards him and clumsily swung my bow at him, forcing him to fall, but he caught himself by outstretching his palm to the ground, just like I had hoped. I nocked another arrow an took aim for the hand supporting him. I let it fly, pinning him to the ground as he screamed. There was no use getting the prisoner out now, I had been discovered. I vaulted up to the window I had entered through and then tensed up to jump again, but what appeared to be a blade attached to a chain impaled my leg and yanked me back down. I turned around to see my attacker to be the man I had just pinned to the ground. I had to give him credit, he was stubborn. The weapon he was wielding was an ancient one by the name of kusari-gama, which was much like a scythe on the end of a chain. He swung it at me again, but this time I had my own trick. I dodged the blade and grabbed the pole it was connected to. I grabbed an arrow from my quiver and held it out in front of me with my free hand, then yanked the chain, pulling my for towards me, and right into the arrow. It didn't even faze him, however. He lifted me up and threw me against the wall with great force, but I was not to be deterred from my mission. I smacked him back on the ground by swinging my bow, then took the scythe end of his weapon. I ran to the tree-man and cut his chained, then threw the scythe back at the man. I picked up the tree man and left through the window. I sat down the man down outside and leapt back in. I could not speak, but my eyes tend to convey words just as well. I sprinted towards my foe, then about a yard away I leapt upward towards him, then came down and brought my heel onto his skull. He staggered back, obviously annoyed, and swung his chain at me. It impaled my midsection, and if I had a voice, my scream would have been deafening. I rushed to stand just a foot away from him, then began my attack. I threw an elbow into his gut, then delivered a roundhouse kick to his knee. When it bent, I gripped my hands together over his head and brought them down with crushing strength, forcing him to his knees. I grabbed his head and thrusted my knee into his face repeatedly then with a head butt I knocked him on his back. But it was a ruse. He spat blood in my eyes and brought his leg into mine, turning the tables as I was now on my back. He stood up slowly and gripped the scythe's handle and brought it down on my head. I braced for my death, but it never came. I opened my eyes to see the tree man to have blocked the blow with a steel blade. He helped me to my feet and we faced out foe together. But something was not right. I looked to my ally, and his hands and knee were shaking badly. Sap dripped from his lip. My mouth opened in horror at the exhausted warrior, for if he was to assist me, he would most surely die. I needed to do something, but what could I do? I would not leave him, but he could not stay. One single scenario granted him escape. I kicked my foe back into a wall, and then I threw an elbow into the tree man to stun him. I grabbed my ally's feet and threw him towards the window, launching him far away. Now to buy him time. I turned to my foe, resting with my left leg forward and my right leg bent below me. My arms were vertical in front of me, and I raised my shoulders. I saw him rush at me, and the fight had begun.


End file.
